A. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to data processing systems and, more particularly, to a method for determining if an Internet domain name has been registered in a specific domain.
B. Description of the Related Art
Internet domain names are related to Internet Protocol (IP) numerical addresses. Every xe2x80x9chostxe2x80x9d that is linked directly to the Internet (e.g., computers) must be identified by a specific IP numerical address. Data transmission over the Internet is in fact accomplished by directing the data to such numerical addresses. An IP address includes four numbers separated by periods. Currently, each number must be between 0 and 255.
Numerical addresses, however, are difficult for humans to remember. Consequently, a domain name may be used as part of what amounts to a type of mnemonic for that IP address. For example, the domain name infoway.com, forms part of ns.infoway.com, which is an easier-to-remember mnemonic for the host located at IP address 207.90.216.53. In this way, the mnemonic is at least roughly analogous to the letters that are sometimes used to signify a specific telephone number, e.g., 1-800-FLOWERS is a mnemonic for 1-800-356-9377.
The availability of Internet domain names (e.g., xe2x80x9cibm.com,xe2x80x9d xe2x80x9cmicrosoft.com,xe2x80x9d xe2x80x9cnetscape.com,xe2x80x9d etc.) is now a significant business issue, because a domain name is the identifier by which an individual, a company, a governmental entity, an educational institution, etc. (referred to collectively as simply xe2x80x9ccompaniesxe2x80x9d) can be found on the Internet.
As is well known in the art, minor variations in a name can be registered with the InterNIC as domain names. The InterNIC, is a registration service for registering domain names located at Network Solutions, Inc., Herndon, Va. For example, it has been reported that the domain names 1-800-DENTIST.COM and 1800DENTISTCOM are owned by two different entities.
In addition, companies. that have, or aspire to have, an international Internet presence must keep in mind the domain name scheme in other countries. For example, it has been reported that xe2x80x9capple.comxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9capple.co.ukxe2x80x9d are owned by different companies, as arexe2x80x9capple.netxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9capple.org.xe2x80x9d
Domain names are specific to a domain, which is a geographic area defined at a global-level or at a country-level. A global-level domain covers all countries worldwide. Examples of global-level domains include .com, .edu, .gov, and .org. A country-level domain covers only a given country. Examples of country-level domains include .us for the United States and .fr for France. Additionally, country-level domains may contain an indication of a sub-domain within the domain. When a sub-domain is specified for a domain name, the domain name is recognized only in that sub-domain and not the domain that it is a part of.
The term xe2x80x9cdomain name systemxe2x80x9d (DNS) refers to a distributed database that is responsible for translating the Internet names into numerical addresses (e.g., 207.90.216.53), routing mail to its proper destination and many other services. The DNS comprises DNS servers or other machines that runs software permitting it to query a database (hosted either locally or on another machine) referred to as a DNS database. The DNS database contains records associating particular domain names with specific Internet Protocol (IP) numerical addresses (e.g., 207.90.216.53).
A user that wishes to check the availability of a domain name in, for example, five different countries will typically submit a separate Whois query, or its equivalent, to the domain-name registration authority in each country. Whois queries provide a way of finding registering organization names, e-mail addresses, administrative technical and billing contacts, postal addresses, and telephone numbers, of those who have registered domain names. Whois is available for use from xe2x80x9chttp://rs.intemic.org,xe2x80x9d and available for download at xe2x80x9chttp://www.shareware.com.xe2x80x9d The queries might be automated to the extent that the countries in question support automated electronic queries (e.g., via a Web browser form), but in other countries the queries must be initiated by some other means, e.g., FAX, mail, email, phone call, etc. In either case, to perform a query for registered domain names in multiple countries, a user would have to submit a separate search request to each domain, thus making the searching process very time-consuming and cumbersome. It is therefore desirable to improve systems that search for domain names.
Methods, systems, and articles of manufacture consistent with the present invention provide an improved query server that overcomes the shortcomings of existing domain name searching techniques by performing a multitude of searches simultaneously, transparent to the user. Specifically, the improved query server searches for an existing domain name records in various domains and then displays the results in a formatted manner, thus eliminating the need for a user to perform individual searches.
In accordance with methods consistent with the present invention, a method is provided in a data processing system with DNS servers, each responsible for maintaining registration records of domain names for an associated domain. This method receives user input containing a domain name and specified ones of the domains, transmits a request for a search of the domain names to the DNS servers associated with the specified domains, receives search results from the DNS servers associated with the specified domains, and displays the search results. The search results indicate, for each of the specified domains, whether a domain name record exists in the specified domain.